Central Region (Malawi)

Map of the Central Region of Malawi

The Central Region or Central Region of Malawi is the largest of the three administrative divisions between the state at the highest level and the respective districts at the top with an area of ​​almost 7.6 million inhabitants, with an area of ​​just under 7.6 million inhabitants, but the second largest of the three administrative divisions lower level are located. Each region is represented by a regional administrator . The administrative capital of the Central Region is the capital of the country Lilongwe, with a population of 669,021 .

geography

The Central Region is bounded in the west by Zambia and Mozambique , in the north by the Northern Region and in the east by Lake Malawi . To the south it borders Mozambique and the Southern Region .

There are five agroecological regions in Malawi, one wholly and one partially in the Central Region. The Central Plains with its medium altitude lies in the middle of Malawi and stretches widely around Lilongwe to the Kasungu district. The other region represents the lakeshore region of Lake Malawi, which extends north-south across all three regions.

Districts

The Central Region was divided into nine districts, listed from north to south

• Kasungu with 616,085 inhabitants,
• Nkhotakota with 301,868 inhabitants,
• Ntchisi with 224,098 inhabitants,
• Dowa with 556,678 inhabitants,
• Mchinji with 456,558 inhabitants,
• Lilongwe with 1,228,146 inhabitants,
• Salima with 340,327 inhabitants,
• Dedza with 623,789 inhabitants and
• Ntcheu with 474,464 inhabitants exist.

The districts are run by a District Development Committee (DDC) chaired by a District Commissioner . Political decision-making takes place in a decentralized manner in these districts and in the larger cities in so-called town or city ​​assemblies , but not at the regional level.

population

The 5,491,034 inhabitants of the Central Region determined in the 2008 census represent 42% of the total population of Malawi. With an average of 154 inhabitants per km², the Central Region is in the middle of the field in terms of the country's population density . 49.1% are male and 50.9% are female, but only 47.5% of the population is 18 years of age or older. The high number of children in the total population is due, on the one hand, to the high population increase of 35% between 1998 and 2008 and, on the other hand, to the high death rate from HIV / AIDS in the adult population. Only 34.2% of women and 29.9% of men currently have sufficient knowledge about HIV prevention .

65.1% of children up to 17 years of age live with both parents. 14.7% do not live with their biological parents and 10.2% are orphans who have lost one or both parents.

The official languages ​​in the region are English and Chichewa .

economy

The tobacco provides for Malawi continues to be the largest source of income. In 2006 there were approximately 375,000 small farmers from growing tobacco, covering 68% of the export income of the country from. Although tobacco is grown throughout the country, cultivation and processing have been concentrated more and more in the Central Region and here especially in Kasungu in recent years. The largest tobacco auction market is in Kanengo , outside of Lilongwe.

Tea cultivation does not play a role in the Central Region, coffee cultivation only a subordinate one. In the districts of Dedza and Ntchisi, coffee is mainly grown by small coffee farmers.

Cassava (manioc) is preferred by the people along Lake Malawi as a staple food for their own consumption and thus competes with corn . The cassava root is also known as "cash food", with which you can easily and quickly earn some money on the markets. For the industrial use of the cassava tuber, a plant for starch production was set up in Nkhotakota in 2006 . Another smaller factory is located in the capital Lilongwe.

17,000 tons of soybeans each year are harvested in the districts of Kasungu and Ntchisi. Peanuts are also grown in Kasungu and also around Lilongwe.

One of the most promising energy generation projects in the next few years could be the fairly simple production of fuel from the oil of the jatropha trees. Over two million trees have been planted for this purpose in the past two years. In order to reduce its dependence on oil imports, Malawi has been producing ethanol from sugar itself since 1982. The production of 11.8 million liters per year is distributed between the two production sites near Dwangwa in the Nkhotakota district and Chikwawa in the Southern region.

See also

• Northern region
• Southern Region

swell

• Population and Housing Census 2008 - Prelimenery Report , National Statistical Office, Zomba, Malawi, September 2008
• Malawi Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey 2006 - Prelimenery Report , National Statistical Office, Zomba, Malawi, February 2007
• Environment and Development in Malawi - National Environmental Action Plan - (accessed December 16, 2009)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c} Population and Housing Census 2008 - Prelimenery Report , National Statistical Office, Zomba, Malawi, September 2008
2. ↑ Malawi: Regions, Major Cities, Towns & Villages - Population Statistics in Maps and Charts. Retrieved December 2, 2017 . 
3. ↑ ^{a b} NEAP - Environment and Development in Malawi - Department of Environmental Affairs - (accessed December 16, 2009)
4. ↑ Malawi Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey 2006 - Prelimenery Report , National Statistical Office, Zomba, Malawi, February 2007
5. ↑ Steven M. Jaffee, Malawi's Tobacco Sector: Standing on One Strong Leg is Better Than on None Africa Region Working Paper Series No. 55 , World Bank Group, Washington, DC, June 2003.
6. ↑ Reforming the Smallholder Coffee Sector in Malawi: A Case Study of Smallholder Commercialization , Future Agricultures Consortium (FAC) October of 2007.
7. ↑ Patrick Kambewaa, Misheck Nyembe, Structure and Dynamics of Malawi Cassava Markets , Michigan State University, East Lansing, USA, February 2008
8. ^ ^{A b} Investors Guide to Malawi , Malawi Investment Promotion Agency - MIPA, Lilongwe, 2007.

Web links

• Official Website of The Government of Malawi - Homepage - (accessed December 16, 2009)
• UNDP supported government program - National Research Council of Malawi - (accessed December 16, 2009)
• United Nations Developement Program Malawi - UNDP Malawi - (accessed December 16, 2009)

Coordinates: 13 ° 29 ′  S , 34 ° 9 ′  E